Brian Hoyer, the San Francisco 49ers’ presumptive starting quarterback in 2017, picked an interesting day to go on national television.

Monday was the deadline for players on the franchise tag to sign long-term contracts with their teams. Many eyes have been on Washington Redskins QB Kirk Cousins, who’s been linked to San Francisco ever since the team hired Kyle Shanahan, Cousins’ former coordinator with Washington, as head coach last winter.

Hours before the deadline, Hoyer was on the set of ESPN’s “NFL Live” Monday afternoon and was asked about the chatter linking Cousins to San Francisco.

“Look, this is 2017. Kirk is going to be Washington, I’m going to be in San Francisco. That’s all you can worry about,” Hoyer said. “You control what you can control and go out there and do the best you can. I think that’s the one thing of this tumultuous career that I’ve had – had some highs and some lows, just don’t worry about things you can’t control because it really doesn’t do you any good.”

Hoyer signed a two-year, $12 million deal signaling he’ll bridge the gap to the 49ers’ quarterback of the future, whether that’s Cousins, Jimmy Garoppolo or a highly drafted rookie next spring.

The good news for Hoyer is he’s playing with house money in 2017. No one is expecting much from the former backup now that he’s entrenched in the starting role. Guiding the club to more than four or five wins would be considered a successful campaign given where the 49ers were last season’s 2-14 record under Chip Kelly.

Feeling optimistic? Hoyer has been productive as a backup the last two seasons. In his last 17 regular-season games (14 starts), he completed 63 percent of his passes for 4,051 yards and 25 touchdowns with just seven interceptions.

Those numbers compare him favorable to a far more expensive quarterback.